Garment hanger



April 23, 1940.

M. D. BRIGHT 2,198,363

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 25, 1938 ATTORNEYi Patented Apr. 23, 1940 a l UNITED l STATES PATENT OFFiQE X l 2,19s,3ss- GARMENrHAN ER Merrion D. Bright, Milwaukee, Wis. Application August 25, 1938, Serial No. 226,643

4 Claims. (01. 223-89) While I have shown and described the im- This invention relates to improvements in the construction of garment hangers or the like.

. An object of the invention is to provide a new and useful garment hanger which may be readily manufactured at moderate cost, and which has extreme utility.

While it has heretofore been proposed to manufacture garment hangers from paper tubing and the like, these prior proposals have not met with commercial acceptance because the resultant articles were too expensive and insufliciently durable, and also because the hangers could not be collapsed into compact form when not in use.

- One of. the more specific objects of my invention is to provide an improved garment hanger which may be readily constructed from standard commercial paper tubing of relatively light quality, to produce a relatively sturdy and durable final structure.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a hanger for garments or the like, which may be manufactured at minimum cost, and which is. adapted to properly fit the clothes. or other articles draped thereover.

A further specific object of my present inven- \tion is to provide a garment hanger formed primarily of paper tubing or the like, which may be quickly collapsed into compact form when not in use, while being just as conveniently distendable for normal use.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a neat appearing garment hanger which besides being inexpensive and extremely effective in normal use, can be used for advertising purposes.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of an embodiment ofthe invention may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views,

(Fig. l is a top view of one of my improved garment hangers in collapsed condition;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the collapsed hanger of Fi Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the garment hanger distended for normal use;

Fig. 4 is a central vertical section through the distended hanger of Fig. 3, the section being taken along the line 4-4; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section through i the lower horizontal portion of the hanger, showing a mode of reenforcing this hanger portion.

proved hanger as being formed of standard paper tubing of relatively light quality. and preferably formed by winding a strip helically upon itself, to. produce the tube, it is not the intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope, since other types of tubing may be used.

Referring to the drawing, my improved garment hanger as shown therein, comprises in general a helically wound standard paper tube having a lower horizontal tubular portion 8, and two similar but oppositely directed upper tubular nortions 9, l0 connected to the ends of the horizontal portion 8 by relatively long flattened hinge sections l I, I2 respectively, and further connected to each other by means of a pivot pin l3 which also pivotally confines a suspension hook [4 between the flattened ends I5, l6 of the portions 9, in. The lower or intermediate tubular portion 8 is approximately twice as long as the. individual tube portions 9, Ill and the hinge sections ll, I2 extend from the central horizontal plane of the lower portion 8 to corresponding central planes of theupper portions 9, l0 respectively. The flattened ends t5, iii of the upper portions 9, In lie in planes disposed approximately at right angles to, the planes of the hinge sections H, l2, and when the hanger is assembled, the fiat ends l5, l6 overlap and the, pivot loop I] of the suspension hook I4 is confined between,

the flat ends by the pin l3 which not only permits swinging of the hook l4 parallel totheends l5, IE but also permits these ends to swing relative to each other; The suspension hook l4 may be formed of suitable wire, and the tube portions 8, 9, l0 may be provided with decorative or ad-' vertising matter which may be applied to the tube by printing or otherwise. The tube may ordinarily be formed of relatively thin stock, and if additional rigidity is required, the lower tubular portion 8 may be reenforced by the insertion of another snug fitting inner tube section I8 as'shown in Fig. 5, and this section It may be of any desired length but should not project beyond the ends of the portion 8.

ment, with the upper portions 9, I disposed in approximate alinement with each other and parallel to the lower portion 8, and the hook swung laterally of the portion 8 and one of the portions 9, It; or the assemblage may be distended as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 for normal use. The relatively long flattened hinge sections II, it permit ready and repeated conversion of the hanger from one condition to the other and vice versa, without danger of breaking at the hinges, and these long sections I I, I2 also provide flexible ends which will readily conform to garments of diiferent weight and width and will effectively support such garments without undesirably creasing and dishevelling the same. The collapsed hanger is obviously extremely compact, and additional rigidity may be readily secured by providing a reenforcing inner tube section l8 as shown in Fig. 5. c

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that my'invention provides an extremely simple, compact and durable garment hanger which maybe readily produced from standard commercial paper tubing at very moderate cost. The improved hanger may be decorated to present a neat and attractive appearance by applying printed matter directly to the tube portions 8, ii, iii, and these large diameter portions will obviously prevent undesirably sharp creasing of garments which are suspended thereover. The elongated flattened hinge sections H H are relatively important both for permitting repeated folding without danger of breaking, and because they provideautomatically conforming ends coacting with the garments. The flattening of the ends IE, it in planes perpendicular to the planes of flattening of the sections ll, I2 is also important as this flattening of the ends makes collapsing and distention of the hanger possible. The improved garment hanger has proven highly successful in actual commercial use and can be manufactured at such low cost that the item may be given away by tailors and cleaners with garments sent to their establishments for attention, when being returned to the customers.

It should be understood that itis not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A garment hanger comprising a length of paper tubing bent to form a triangle with the ends of the tubing flattened to lie in the plane of the hanger and permanently pivotally connected at the top corner of the triangle for angular movement relative to each other, the material at the othertwo corners of the triangle being flattened, said last mentioned flattened corners extending away from the tubing at the bottom of the triangle and being of a length to normally space the tubing forming the other two sides a sufficient distance from the bottom tubing to permit free movement of the parts into sub- 2,1es,ses

stantial parallelism while assembled, said fiattened portions being flexible to serve as hinges during such collapsing movement, the pivotal connection at the top of the hanger being in a plane to permit such movement. I

2. A garment hanger comprising a length of paper tubing bent to form a triangle with the ends of the tubing flattened to lie in the plane of the hanger and overlapped at the top corner of the triangle, and a pin extending through said overlapped ends to provide a pivotal connection, the material at the other two corners of the triangle being flattened, said last mentioned flattened corners extending away from the tubing at the bottom of the triangle to normally space the tubing forming the other two sides a sufficient distance from the bottom tubing to permit free movement of the parts into substantial parallelism while assembled, said flattened portions being flexible to serve as hinges during such collapsing movement, the pivotal connection at the top of the hanger being in a plane to permit such movement.

3. A garment hanger comprising a length of paper tubing bent to form a triangle with the ends of the tubing flattened to lie in the plane the top of the hanger being in a plane to permit such movement. I 1

4. A garment hanger comprising a length of paper tubing bent to form a triangle with the ends of the tubing flattened to lie in the plane of the hanger and overlapped at the top corner of 'the triangle, a pin extending through said overlapped ends to form a pivotal connection, and a hook having its lower-end formed with an eye through which said pin extends, the material at the other two corners of the triangle being flattened, said last mentioned flattened corners extending away from the tubing at the bottom of the triangle to normally space the tubing forming the other two sides a sufficient distance from the bottom tubing to permit free movement of the parts into substantial parallelism while assembled, said flattened portions being flexible to serve as hinges during such collapsing movement,. the pivotal connection at the-top of the hanger being in a plane to permit such movement.

'MERRION D. BRIGHT.

tions being flexible to serve as hinges during such collapsing movement, the pivotal connection at 

